Homecoming in DPOV
by Roza-Dimka-Reader
Summary: The story Homecoming - from the book Foretold - in Dimitri's point of view. I decided to write this after I had finished Last Sacrifice, so here we are! Please give it a shot, and hope you enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1

**So I decided to give it a shot! Thank you to those who read my Last Sacrifice and gave me a push to do this :P I'm going to be doing it in small instalments. Hope you enjoy! Review and let me know what you think :)**

**Homecoming**

I looked out the window as the ground got closer and closer. There was a feeling of excited tingles in my stomach as I studied the familiar aspects of my native country.

The plane I was sitting on began circling in the air, preparing to land. I saw with a jolt the Saint Basil's Academy, the school in which I had trained to be a guardian.

I tapped on the window to get Rose's attention.

"Do you see that, Rose?" I asked her, wanting to show her the place in which I had grown up and learned all of my skills. "St. Basil's." I informed her.

I felt her warm body move closer to mine to get a look at what I was pointing at. I looked at all of the other smaller buildings that were increasing in size now that we were decreasing in altitude.

I didn't say much else and I watched my home country in fascination. I had been here for the majority of my life, but not in recent years. Over the past few months, I had returned here…as a Strigoi. The place hadn't meant anything to me during the couple of months that I had been one, but now…now it meant everything.

The sun shone off the green fields and roofs of houses.

The sun.

It was one of the main things that still fascinated me since being turned back. I guess I had just found a new appreciation for it and its beauty.

"Too bad we don't have time to hang out," Rose said, talking about Moscow, the city beneath us. I realised she had leaned back into her own seat. Moscow was just one stop on the way back to my home town.  
"We'll have to save all of our sightseeing for Siberia…"

Siberia.

It was the area of Russia that I was from…and the one that meant most to me.

I hadn't been there in years. Even years before I had been involuntarily changed.

I looked around at the beautiful face of my Roza, who was smiling at me.

"It's been so long since I've seen Baia," I said quietly. I wasn't sure if I was talking to her, or to myself.

I thought of my mother. Of my family. Or my community.

The excited feeling in my stomach mingled with nerves.

"So long since I've seen them. Do you think…" I stopped myself, not sure how to ask such a small question, whose answer meant so much to me. "Do you think they'll be glad to see me?"

Rose reached over and took my hand in hers. The feel of her skin on mine soothed me a little, but didn't do much for the nerves. I didn't like to see the look of concern in her eyes. For a moment, I thought she was going to say that it was a bad idea to come here…but she didn't.

"Of course they'll be glad," she said, making me feel silly for asking such a question…but I had needed the assurance. "They know we're coming. Hell, you should've seen the party they threw when they thought you were dead, comrade. Imagine what they'll do when they find out you're actually alive."

I smiled at her, grateful for her answer and for the fact that she was by my side. It made what I was doing a hell of a lot easier.

"Let's hope so," I said and looked back out the window, not wanting to miss the view. "Let's hope so."


	2. Chapter 2

Once we had landed in Moscow, we waited in the airport for our next flight. That one took us to Omsk, the city that contained the nearest airport to my home town. Despite being the nearest airport, it was still almost twenty four hours away from my home town.

Once we had landed in Omsk, I rented a car for Rose and myself and we started the next part of our journey.

As we drove, I couldn't decide if I was dying to arrive to see my family, or if I was dreading it, in case they turned me away. Rose didn't say much, but just having her there was a massive comfort to me.

As I drove through the small village of Baia, I found myself slowing the car slightly. I wanted to take in each and every aspect, not missing any of it.

I took in all of the houses – both old and new. The school's, the shops, the walks…all of it.

Finally, we reached the house I was looking for.

It was an old building. Two storeys high with a brick front. It wasn't anything special, but it was familiar.

It was home.

I sat out in the car in silence as dusk approached, trying to muster up the courage.

Rose let me do just that, but after a long while, she leaned over and kissed my cheek, giving me the push I needed.

"Showtime, comrade. They're waiting for you."

I took a deep breath and tried to relax a little. Failing to do so, I mentally prepared myself to be turned away from the family. At least I would be ready if that was to happen.

I nodded, letting Rose know I was ready and climbed out of the car. I was giving myself another mental pep-talk when I heard the front door slam open. Before I knew it, my youngest sister had hurtled herself into my arms.

Shock was the only thing that registered in my system. It took me a few moments to calm down and realise what was happening.

I embraced her back. Once she had pulled back, I got my first proper look at her. She was seventeen now, and looked a lot different than when I had last saw her.

She had grown up.

She was about to say something else to me, when she suddenly noticed the figure standing a couple of metres away. With a cry of what could only be joy, she launched herself at Rose and hugged her just as tightly as she had me. I watched in happiness as my baby sister embraced my girlfriend so lovingly.

Viktoria started thanking Rose profusely for returning me to my normal state. The confused look in Rose's face told me she didn't understand. It was then that I realised we were speaking in Russian.

I turned suddenly when I heard more footsteps running down the path. I turned in time to see my other two sisters and my mother rushing towards me.

I engulfed each of them in a tight hug and we comforted each other, all of us emotional at finally being reunited.

"Come in, come in," my mother said after a while, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "Let's sit down and talk."

I followed my family inside into the hallway and then into the living room. Everything looked almost exactly how I remembered it - the bookshelves, the sofas, the wooden floor…everything except for the young boy and the two babies in the room.

The boy, I realised, was my nephew Paul. He had only been a toddler when I had left. The older of the two young girls, I knew as Zoya, my sister Karolina's other child. I remembered a phone call I had received a few months before I had been turned from my mother, telling me that Sonya was also pregnant. This was her baby, I realised.

I settled myself on the couch, my eldest sister, and my younger one sitting either side of me. My youngest sister sat by my feet and leant against my legs. I felt the circle of love and warmth surrounding me as my mother joined us.

"This is a miracle," my mother said. It was unusual for us to not speak in Russian to one another, but they were doing it for Rose's sake. I knew from the welcome we had both received that they adored Rose almost as much as I did. "I didn't believe it. When I received the message, I thought it was a mistake. Or a lie." She sighed happily. "But here you are. Alive. The same."

"The same." I repeated. That wasn't completely true. I felt as though I _had _changed. I was more careful. More appreciative of the small details, more aware that every day was a gift and that everything can change in the space of a heartbeat. But in the sense that my mother meant, yes, I was the same.

"Was the first story…Was the first story a mistake, then? You weren't truly…truly a Strigoi?

_If only._

I wished more than anything that it was a mistake. But it wasn't. I had been an evil, undead creature of the night and I had murdered innocents. Lots of them.

I thought of the days when I had captured Rose and used her as a personal bloodwhore. I could still remember the dazed look in her eyes when she was high on vampire endorphins. I remember the bruises and bite marks on her neck. It felt as though I was looking at these memories through a stranger's eye.

I looked over at Rose and saw that she was gazing back at me. The look on her face told me she was remembering the same things I was…just from a completely different point of view. Looking into her eyes, I also saw the love and forgiveness she had given me…and that gave me the strength to answer my sister's question.

"No, I was Strigoi. I was one of them. I did…terrible things." I didn't want to go into details about what I had done – not that they would want to know. "I was lost. Beyond hope. Except…Rose believed in me. Rose never gave up."

It was important to me that they knew this. That Rose was the sole reason for my second chance at life.

"As I predicted."

My grandmother's voice rang through the room. I turned and saw her standing in the doorway. She was one member of my family who hadn't changed at all since I had last seen her.

"You did not." Rose said suddenly. She had been quiet the entire time, but I saw a sudden spark of life in her now. "All you did was tell me to get out of here do that I could 'do something else.'"

"Exactly," my grandmother replied. "You needed to go restore my Dimka."

She began to walk towards me and I met her halfway. I hugged her small frame to mine, greeting her properly. Once we had finished embracing, we returned to our seats.

"But you never said that's what I was going to do," Rose continued the argument. "You can't take credit for that."

"I knew." Was my grandmother's reply.

"Then why didn't you _tell _me that's what I had to do?" Rose demanded. I watched their comical banter with amusement. Both my grandmother and Rose were quite stubborn…and obviously clashed with each other.

Yeva thought about her answer for a moment. "Too easy. You needed to work for it."

I almost burst out laughing at the speechless look on Rose's face. I decided right there and then to stop Rose in her tracks. Yes Rose was stubborn and if she tried, she could usually get her way…but Yeva was…well Yeva. You'd be foolishly to even try and argue with her.

Rose caught my warning look and I could see an internal battle waging within her. She always had a hard time of letting the little things go. She nodded slightly at me, indicating that she would let it go. Just this once, I guessed.

"But _how _did it happen?" Sonya asked, changing the subject. "The change back to a dhampir, I mean."

I glanced at Rose, wondering if maybe she wanted to answer this particular question.

She did.

"My friend Lissa used spirit while, um, stabbing him with a silver stake," she explained.

"_Lissa?" _My nephew said suddenly, his eyes wide. "Do you mean Queen Vasilisa?"

"Oh yeah," Rose said. I knew that she forgot on a daily basis that her best

friend was in fact the queen of the entire Moroi world. But not many others took it quite so calmly when they found out we were her acquaintances. "Her."

I watched Rose during the brief pause after she spoke.

Her face was full of worry. I knew she had been nervous to leave Lissa to come with me to Russia but she had made arrangements and had made sure that Lissa had protection twenty-four seven while she was gone. She knew how much seeing my family again meant to me, but it was nothing compared to the fact that she had left Lissa for a week to be with here when I faced them.

We stayed up for hours after that – just talking. My family wanted to know every detail about my transformation back to a dhampir. I asked my own fair share of questions about what I had missed here in Baia over the past few years but somehow, they always directed the conversation back to me.

It suddenly occurred to Karolina, that both of her children were flat out on the floor. My mother announced that it was bed time, and we would talk more the next day. She led Rose and me to our bedroom.

On our way up, my mother informed us that there would be a 'small' get together here at the house.

"Everyone wants to see you," she said. "As incredible as it is for us, it's even more unbelievable for them. So…we just told them to stop by tomorrow. All of them."

I wasn't really a party-type of guy – especially when the 'party' revolved solely around me and it was something that I didn't even want to remember, never mind talk about with people I hadn't spoken to in years.

But of course, my mother had put a lot of thought and work into organising this. And I wanted to make her happy.

"Of course," I said to her. "I look forward to it."

She smiled back at me and then bade both Rose and I good night. I kept my own smile on my face until the bedroom door had closed behind me.

I moved and sat on the bed, feeling tired. What had I gotten myself into? I could have just said that I'd prefer if we could just spend the week together as a family. Talking about my Strigoi days was something I had only done with Rose…and even then, I didn't go into all the details.

"Why so blue, comrade?" Rose said. She had obviously been watching my mumbling and approached me. Settling herself in my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck.

"You know why," I replied, not playing any games. Rose knew better than anyone that this was something I didn't want to do. I found myself running a small piece of her dark hair through my fingers; its softness soothing me. "I'm going to have to keep talking about…_that _time."

"It's true," she answered truthfully. "But they're only going to talk about that in order to find out the rest of the story. No one's going to focus on what you did as Strigoi. They're going to want to know about how you came back. The miracle. I saw these people earlier this year. They mourned you as dead. Now they're going to want to celebrate you being alive. That's what the focus will be." She leaned down so that she could kiss me gently. That one kiss distracting me and changing my mood drastically. I suddenly became very aware of how close we were. "That's certainly _my _favourite part of the story."

I pulled her as tightly as I could against me. "_My _favourite part was when you slapped some sense into me and got me to stop feeling sorry for myself."

Thinking about the day that Rose and I had finally admitted to ourselves and to each other of our feelings, I lay down on the bed, pulling her down on top of me.

"Slapped?" Rose asked. "That's not exactly how I remember it."

"Maybe you just need to help remind me," I said suggestively.

"'Remind,' huh?" she repeated. She suddenly glanced behind her. "I feel bad enough having our own room in your mom's house! It's like we're getting away with something."

I reached my hands up to her face and caressed her soft cheeks. "They're very open-minded," I told her. "Besides, after everything we've been through? I think we might as well be married, as far as most of them are concerned."

"I got that impression too," she told me, looking lost in thought.

"Not a bad idea," I said, teasing her. I had suggested on more than one occasion about my feelings about married…and each time she had replied with the same answer. I knew where she stood on the whole idea, but there was no harm in teasing.

She tried to elbow me…and failed. "Nope. Don't go there, comrade."

"You say that now," I told her, trying to stop myself from laughing at the serious look on her face. "but one of these days you'll crack."

"No way," she replied as I traced her pattern of her tattoos, the heat of her skin having a strong effect on me. "You've given some pretty convincing arguments, but you're still a long way from winning me over."

"I haven't even really tried," I told her, running my hands from her neck into her hair. "When I want to, I can be _very _persuasive."

"Yeah?" she said, manoeuvring herself so that she was now straddling my waist. "Prove it."

"I was hoping you'd say that."


	3. Chapter 3

My family arose early the following morning. So early, in fact, that by the time Rose and I were ready and had arrived downstairs; they had all of the preparations for the small get together sorted.

Rose and I took our time eating breakfast and then we both went upstairs to freshen up. On our way back down, I heard the doorbell ring. The guests had arrived.

The get together turned out to be anything _but _small. The whole town showed up.

I was greeted by one person after the other, each of them with the same questions.

_How? When? Why? _

And each time, they got the same answers.

There were many familiar faces around the house. For example, the first person to approach me was Mrs. Burkov. She had looked after myself and my sisters when we were younger. She had taught me for the first couple years of my life before I left for St. Basil's to train as a guardian.

Upon approaching me, she was wary and cautious. Her husband too, was with her. They questioned and talked to me, all the while keeping a safe distance. I had prepared myself for this sort of reaction from people, but Rose had told me that they would relax after a couple of minutes.

I was surprised to see that she was right.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Burkov settled into a light-hearted conversation and relaxed completely. Rose had been right when she had told me that people would accept me no problem after spending a few minutes with me.

Throughout the morning and afternoon, I tried to keep an eye out for Rose. She was around, but she left me to do the mingling by myself, knowing that it was something that I had to do alone. I was surprised to see that she didn't do a lot of mingling herself: the majority of the time she spent observing everyone. I felt a little guilty. All I wanted to do was to go to her side and make her feel comfortable. It was impossible however; every time I tried to get a footstep closer to wherever she was standing, another person would grab my arm and start up a new conversation.

The look in her face was far off, and I wondered if she was thinking about the last time she had been in a gathering like this in this very same house. I wasn't there…for obvious reasons…but it couldn't have been a very nice occasion. The memories swimming in Rose's eyes and mind told me that much.

I was in the middle of conversing with an old neighbour of my family's when I saw two fairly familiar faces approach Rose. Her face immediately brightened upon seeing them and she embraced them. I felt myself relax a little as Rose did but kept an eye on her as she spoke to the couple.

Oksana and Mark, I realised. They were the bonded pair Rose had met while last in Russia.

I returned my attention to the elderly woman speaking to me just as glasses of Russian vodka were being passed around. I took one to be sociable, but didn't drink any of it. I had long since decided that I wouldn't drink while my loved ones may need protecting from any sort of threat.

"Dimka?" I realised my mother was at my side. "Are you okay, love? Hungry?" she asked me, that motherly look in her eyes.

"No thank you, mama," I replied and gave her hand a squeeze. She turned to greet some other guests when a man suddenly cut through the crowd, making his way towards her.

"Olena." The man said when he reached her. With a jolt, I realised he was human – an Alchemist, to be correct. I could see the golden lily tattoo on his cheek that I had seen so often on Sydney Sage's.

"Henry," my mother greeted him. "How nice to see you again."

I was curious as to how he knew my mother, and to how she knew him. I was also wondering why she looked so weary when she saw him approach her.

"We need to talk about the Blood King," he said straight out. I furrowed my eyebrows, his statement not meaning anything to me.

"This is hardly the time," my mother replied. Several groups who were standing nearby were now looking over at the strange talk. My mother suddenly gestured to me. "My son is visiting. He hasn't been here in years."

The Henry man turned and looked at me. Before turning back to my mother, he gave me a very brief nod of greeting, which I returned.

"It's _never _the time. The longer we put this off, the more people are going to be hurt. Another human was killed last night, you know."

Now _this _really got my attention. And Rose's.

She strode over.

"Who was killed?" she demanded, her presence not going un-noticed by anyone. "And who's doing the killing?"

Henry took a quick glance at her, and then turned away, obviously not deeming her important enough to even bother answering, immediately making me dislike the man.

"You have to do something," he addressed my mother once again.

My mother threw up her hands in exasperation. "What do you think _I _can do?" I was getting seriously annoyed at this guy now. I knew almost every Alchemist was fairly arrogant – it was something I'd learned to live with whenever I'd had to be around them. But trying to order my mother _and _annoying Rose could only put them in my bad books.

"Because you're…well, you're kind of what passes for a leader around here. Who else is going to organise dhampirs to take care of this menace?" he answered her.

"I don't lead anyone," she answered him back immediately. "And the people here…they certainly can't be ordered into battle on a moment's notice."

"But they know how to fight," countered Henry. "You're all trained, even if you didn't become guardians."

"We're trained to defend," she corrected him. "Certainly everyone here would turn out if Strigoi invaded our town. We don't go out seeking trouble, though. Well, except for the Unmarked. But they're all away right now. Once they return in the autumn, I'm sure they'll happily do this for you."

Henry was becoming very frustrated. "We can't wait until autumn! Humans are dying now."

"Humans who are too stupid to stay out of trouble," said another woman I had spoken to earlier. She was yet another neighbour. Her husband also felt the need to join in.

"This so called Blood King is just an ordinary Strigoi," he said. "Nothing special. Humans need to simply stay away, and he'll leave."

I decided it was time for me to step in, seeing that my mother nor the Alchemist were going to back down.

"Start from the beginning," I instructed the human, not leaving any room for argument. "Someone explain who this Blood King is and why he's killing humans."

The Alchemist turned and gave a quick assessment, before filling me in on the details of how an old, powerful Strigoi was living up in the mountains and was preying on any human who came close.

"And so…he's what, preying on human hikers that happen to wander nearby?" Rose asked him, also trying to figure out what was going on.

Henry looked surprised that Rose was even keeping up with the conversation. That was the problem with a lot of people who faced Rose – they were expecting just an ordinary young dhampir girl. But the thing about Roza was…she was _anything _but ordinary.

"No wandering involved," Henry replied, answering her at last. "They seek him out. All the people in these villages are superstitious and deluded. They've built up this legendary reputation for him – gave him that Blood King name. They don't fully understand what he is, of course. Anyway, all he has to do is wait around, because every so often, someone gets it into his head that _he's _going to be the one to defeat the Blood King. They rush headlong into those mountain paths – and never come back."

"Stupid," commented the neighbour.

"You have to do something," Henry said once again, looking around at anyone who was listening to him. "My people can't kill this Strigoi. You need to. I've talked to guardians in the larger cities, but they won't leave their Moroi. That means it's up to you locals."

"Maybe word will eventually get around and humans will stay away," my mother suggested. I only hoped it was that easy. I was thinking the situation out in my head, and it seemed the only way to get rid of the problem, was to do it by hand.

"We keep hoping that'll happen, but it doesn't," replied Henry. "And before anyone suggests it: no, I don't think any human's going to get lucky and kill the Blood King either."

"Of course not."

The room went completely silent as my grandmother entered the room. She moved forward slowly, and dramatically.

"Only someone who has walked the road of death can kill the Blood King," she said. "I have foreseen it."

I could almost see Rose mentally rolling her eyes.

"Oh for God's sake," Rose exclaimed. "That could mean a hundred different things."

I watched the different reactions with interest. There were some, like Rose, who took the more sceptical view on the situation. Henry was one of these. The majority, however, were looking at my grandmother in absolute awe. She was somewhat famous around here for her predictions. Honestly, part of me also believed that there was some truth in these prophecies, however vague they were.

"I'd have to agree," Henry said. "Walking the road of death could be anything…someone who has nearly died, someone who was killed, any warrior or fighter who's –"

My youngest sister cut him off.

"Dimka," I turned to her at the sound of my name. "Grandmother means Dimka. He's walked the road of death and returned."

I felt many pairs of eyes on me after Viktoria spoke, many of them murmuring in agreement. I heard one person say, "Yeva Belikova has declared it to be so. She's never wrong."

"That's not what she said at all!" Rose exclaimed, obviously close enough to hear the same murmurs I could.

"I'll do it," I told them. "I'll put an end to this Strigoi."

There were a few reasons that I had decided to do this. One, even if we managed to keep the humans away from the caves, the Strigoi would still be alive and would still have to feed. Whether it was here or not, people – humans, dhampirs, Moroi – would die at his hand. Two, I had long since learned that if I wanted something done, it was best to do it myself and make sure it was done right. I had no doubt that if in danger, any one of these people could defend and protect themselves as best they could. But, there were very few – if any – in this room besides Rose and myself that had been specifically trained to defeat Strigoi, and it would be a very bad thing indeed if I was to let an untrained dhampir wander up into danger, not knowing what they were doing. There was also a small selfish part of me that hoped that if I did this, I would be accepted back into my community completely.

Many people cheered after I had declared that I would do it.

The one voice I heard clearly through the noise was Rose's.

"But you don't have to!" she exclaimed, looking a little upset. "She never said you did."

"Roza," I said. I didn't want to have to explain everything in front of everyone, so I tried to tell her that we would talk about it later on our own in that one word.

"I'd like to come with you," a voice said once the cheers had died down. I looked in the direction it had originated. It was Mark, the man Rose had been talking with earlier. He was older than me, and I realised that he was another person who had completed their guardian training. "If you'll have me." he added.

"Of course," I replied, not even having to think about it. Having three properly trained guardians was better than having two. A lot of the time in fights – numbers mattered almost as much as skill itself. "I'd be honoured. But that it's." I added quickly, noticing how people's face had begun to light up when they thought I might bring a group with me.

"What about me?" Rose asked suddenly, looking very annoyed indeed.

I almost grinned at her annoyance.

"I figured that was a given."


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the evening passed pretty much uneventful.

Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if it went a little slower.

I knew when we were climbing the stairs, and Rose hadn't spoken a word to me that I wasn't exactly in her good books. It crossed my mind that maybe I should have consulted with her before agreeing that the two of us would go and fight this 'Blood King.'

"You know Yeva didn't specifically say you had to be the one to kill this Blood King guy," she said once the bedroom door was shut. She crossed her arms to look more menacing, which she did – to most people. "Viktoria – and everyone else – jumped to that conclusion."

"I know," I agreed with her whilst trying to fight my exhaustion. It had been a long and eventful day. "But _someone _has to kill him," I tried to tell her my points. "Even if these humans are bringing it on themselves, the threat still needs to be removed. My mother's right that dhampirs around here are mostly focused on defence. You and I are the only ones who've gone through an entire guardian's training. And Mark."

She nodded, seemingly understanding my point. "That's why you said he could come." She stated. "I figured it was just because he was the first to ask and not one of those other wannabes trying to get in on your awesomeness."

I grinned in amusement at her choice of words and sat down on the edge of the bed. "These people can fight. They'd fight to the death if their homes were attacked. But to go into battle? Mark's the only one of them I'd take. And he's still no match for you."

"Well," she said and plonked herself down beside me. "That's the smartest thing I've heard all night."

We were smiling at each other when some realisation must have occurred to her. Her face lit with what I could only explain as excitement.

"Mark can sense Strigoi too," she stated. I realised there was yet another good point to having Mark come along with us. No longer being shadow-kissed, Rose no longer had the luxury of sensing when Strigoi were nearby. Mark however, did.

"Huh," Rose said, biting her lip. "I guess this might be crazy enough to work."

I leaned over and kissed her head, smelling her sweet hair in the process. "Admit it," I said to her. "You don't mind going after this Strigoi. It's the right thing to do. Even if they're walking into it, innocents are still dying because of him."

"Yeah, yeah, it's the right thing. I would've volunteered myself eventually." She admitted and sighed. "I just hate giving Yeva one more reason to think she controls the fate of the universe."

I laughed. Rose was a force to be reckoned with…but Yeva. With Yeva, there wasn't even a point in trying.

"If you plan on being a part of this family, then you'd better get used to it."

I almost started laughing again looking at the pouty expression on her face. Instead, I pulled her close to my side and kissed her forehead once again.


	5. Chapter 5

We were awoken early the next morning…much earlier than I would have liked.

Rose was even more displeased – and she wasn't a morning person anyway. I held her hand as we walked down the stairs groggily after being woken by my mother, informing me that Henry had arrived to make plans.

I didn't say anything other than a polite greeting, squeezing Rose's hand for good measure to make sure she didn't come out with a rude comment.

She didn't however. Her attention had gone straight to the many maps scattered all over the kitchen table.

"I'll make coffee," My mother announced quietly, trying not to wake the other members of the household.

I thanked her and she left the room. Henry immediately started rambling and telling us which map was of what.

I could see Rose mentally cursing him and I felt a small smile grace my lips. I settled myself in one of the chairs and pulled Rose down into the next one.

Before Henry could start again, my mother entered and poured us all some strong coffee. Drinking half of it almost straight away, I jumped straight into the files and paperwork Henry had given us. It took Rose a little bit longer to waken up, but when she did, she was just as enthused.

"The caves are connected," Rose stated suddenly, examining one of the maps. "You can search all day and never find him because he moves around underground."

"Brilliant, Roza," I said admiringly. It was a detail I had missed and had been trying to silently figure out.

"How do you know?" Henry asked her, looking surprised at the fact that Rose had contributed a very useful piece of information. I felt pride and a little smugness at his shocked expression.

Rose just shrugged back. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

She grabbed the nearest pile of maps and shuffled through them. "Do you have an underground map? Did anyone ever do a…I don't know… a geological survey or something?"

"No," Henry admitted looking down. "I don't have anything like that. Probably because no one ever actually made one. If it existed, we'd have it."

I almost rolled my eyes at his arrogance.

"That's going to be a disadvantage," Rose muttered.

"Not so much," I said, a plan suddenly occurring to me. "I have an idea. I don't think we need to go underground at all. Especially with Mark."

Rose made eye contact with me and I held it. I saw my idea enter her head as though it had telepathically gone from my mind to hers.

"Bold move, comrade," she teased, giving me sexy grin.

"Not by your standards," I answered, playing along.

Unfortunately, Henry interrupted our moment.

"What are you two talking about?"

That guy was really starting to get on my nerves.

Rose just gave me a mischievous, knowing grin which I returned happily.


	6. Chapter 6

Henry left soon after and Rose and I were free to send the entire day with each other and with my family. Several more people who couldn't attend last night but who had heard of my return and wanted to greet me came by and stayed for a while. Another couple of people to return were Mark and Oksana.

The main reason they had come however, was so Mark could be filled in on the plan. I could see a little worry in Oksana's eyes as he and Rose discussed what kind of problems we could potentially face.

There was also a lot of worry in my mother's and sister's faces as we left the next morning. I could see my mother trying her hardest to stay brave and keep her emotions to herself for our sake but I could see right through her. She was scared…scared that she would lose me again. We said quick good byes and the three of us departed the house. Henry had chosen not to come with us, for which I was glad.

The drive was long. But after just over six hours, we arrived at the foot of the caverns. We began to follow an old worn out trail up the steep, rocky mountain.

"Nothing like a little rock climbing," Rose said, her tone light as she picked her bag pack up and hoisted it over her shoulder. "This could almost be a vacation, if not for the, you know, potentially dying part."

I smiled and walked to her side.

Mark looked from Rose to me. "Something tells me you're the kind of people whose vacations always end up that way."

"True," I agreed. "Besides, we're safe today. We have my grandmother's guarantee, remember?" I said, teasing Rose. She rolled her eyes in response.

As we continued along the path, it became steeper and even rockier. For some of it, we even had to walk single file in order to get around particularly big boulders. I knew we had reached the right place when the ground levelled out. The small area was surrounded by tall cliff faces on every side and there was a small cave entrance in one of them.

We sat down on the smoothest part of the ground we could find and dropped our bags in a pile beside us.

If we hadn't been waiting to attack…or to be attacked by… a Strigoi, then it would have made a nice day out. The sun was shining brightly in the sky and it was warm, despite the wind that was blowing quite strongly around us. Rose retrieved some food that my mother had given her earlier from her bag and we had a small picnic to keep out strength up.

When I was feeling full, I reclined myself and leant up on my elbows. Rose followed and lay down beside me. Part of our plan was to appear at ease and not alert the Strigoi as to what we were planning to do. We wanted it to seem as though we had just come up here for a picnic.

The last thing I wanted to do was lead the other two into the caves we were so unfamiliar with.

So the plan was to wait until nightfall, and then the Strigoi would come out to us, where we could fight on our terms.

"Mark, you and Oksana should come to the U.S.," Rose said, striking up conversation. "Lissa would love to meet you and talk spirit. Lots of people would."

"That's the problem," Mark replied, not looking too keen about the idea. "We're worried too many people would, now that everyone's interested in spirit. We don't want to become science experiments."

"Lissa wouldn't let that happen," Rose said, not fazed by his lack of interest on the matter. "And think of all the amazing things we might learn. Spirit seems to be able to do something new every day." Her hand found mine, seemingly on its own accord and I knew what she was thinking.

"We'll see," Mark said after a moment. "Oksana likes her privacy, but I know she's curious about –"

Before he finished his sentence, I heard the sound of a footstep not far away from us. I shot up from where I was lounging, immediately alerting both Mark and Rose.

I focused my attention on where I had heard the noise, my hand automatically going for my stake.

I didn't think the other two had heard what I had so I silently pointed in the direction of the noise. They both nodded back in understanding.

Rose silently pulled out a map and gave it a quick study. She looked up at me and signalled to herself and then to the rocks. She made to move but I stopped her. Wordlessly, I told her that she needed to stay and continue the conversation she had been having with Mark, but the real reason I didn't want her to go off on her own was purely for her own protection.

I could see she wasn't happy but she agreed anyway and I stood up to make a roundabout way to the big pile of rocks. As I made my way around, I heard Rose striking up conversation again. Their words didn't register with me as I snuck closer and closer to where I had heard the footsteps.

I was at the boulders now and I leaped at the potential threat. After slamming him to the ground and pinning him down, I realised he was human. I held him down with no trouble as he struggled with all his might against me. Rose and Mark, who had heard the scuffle, came rushing over. Seen as though he was human, and I had both Rose and Mark to help me, I loosened my grip so that the boy could raise his head.

Looking at him properly, he was young. Maybe in his late teens. He looked up as the other two approached and I saw his eyes widen when he say the silver weapons they were carrying.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" he began rambling quickly in Russian.

"Why are you here?" Mark replied.

"I only came to kill the Blood King!" the boy answered.

"Well you can't, so leave." I scoffed and let him go altogether. He was no threat.

He scrambled to get away but ended up tripping and falling in the process.

"Boy can't even stand, never mind kill," Mark mumbled to which I laughed.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Rose demanded suddenly, looking exasperated. I had forgotten she didn't understand Russian. "In English?"

"You…you're American!" The boy exclaimed before I could answer. "I knew the Blood King's reputation had spread, but I didn't know it had gone that far!"

I returned my stake to my belt, already feeling exasperated myself with the boy.

"Well, it hasn't." Rose answered him. "Not exactly. I just happened to be in the neighbourhood."

"I told you," I said to him. "This is no place for you. Leave now."

The boy resisted immediately.

"No! We can work together. We're all here for the same reason. We're here to kill the Blood King."

"What's your name?" Rose asked him.

"Ivan. Ivan Grigorovitch."

"Well, Ivan, I'm Rose, and while we appreciate the offer of help, we've got this under control. There's no need for you to stick around."

Ivan didn't budge.

"You didn't look like you had it under control. You looked like you were having a picnic."

"We were, uh, just getting ready to get into action," she replied.

"Then I'm in time." Ivan said happily. I nearly hit him.

Fortunately, I had better control then that.

Mark also looked and sounded at his wits end. "Boy, this isn't a game." He said. "Do you have anything like this?" he asked Ivan, pulling out the silver stake that he had put in his belt. "I didn't think so. Let me guess. You have a wooden stake, right?"

"Well, yes, but I'm very good at –"

"Very good at getting yourself killed," Mark finished the sentence before Ivan could. "You don't have the skills or the weapons for this."

"Teach me," Ivan said, obviously not going to give up easily. "I told you, I'm willing to help! It's what I've dreamed of – being a famous vampire hunter!"

"This isn't a field trip," I said, speaking eventually. "If you don't leave this area now, we'll carry you out ourselves."

That got him moving. Unfortunately it didn't stop him talking.

"I can go…I can go…but are you sure you don't want my help? I know all there is to know about vampires. Nobody in my village has read as much as I have –"

"Go," Mark and I said firmly, cutting him off.

And he went. I watched as he made his way back down the rocky path.

"Idiot," Mark muttered under his breath and returned to where we had been sitting previously. I waited until Ivan was out of sight before walked back with Rose by my side.

"I feel kind of bad for him," Rose said once we were sitting back down. "He seemed so…I don't know, enthusiastic. But I also start to get why Henry was freaking out so much. If all the other human 'vampire experts' that come here are like him, I can see why they're getting killed off."

"Exactly," I agreed. "Hopefully he'll go back to his village and make up some fantastic story about how he killed the Blood King himself."

"True," Rose said. "The fact that we'll have done it will just back him up when people come here and see no more vampire."

We hadn't sat down one minute when Rose and Mark continued debating which was better, Russian cuisine or hot dogs. It really was hilarious how passionate Rose was about her American food.

As the sun set, I found myself taking my stake out once again and keeping a tight grip of it in my hand. Night was on its way and you could feel the restless tension building between the three of us in anticipation of what was to come.

As the blackness struck, we took out the lanterns we had brought and turned them on. The light from the lanterns created ominous shadows along the cliff walls, giving the entire place an eerie feel as we sat in the darkness. It was even more eerie as we were now at a stage where the Strigoi hiding within the caves could leave freely and attack at any stage.

An hour passed and it became clear that this was a smart Strigoi. He wasn't jumping in without thinking and attacking three dhampirs that were on his territory. He was going to wait it out.

So were we.

"Do you sense anything?" I heard Rose whisper to Mark as I continued glancing around me, preparing myself for any sign of movement coming from the shadows.

"Not yet," he answered just as quietly.

"We should've brought marshmallows," Rose joked. "Of course, then we'd have to build a fire for sure –"

She was cut off by a terrifying scream that rang out from the cave, bouncing and echoing off the surrounding cliff walls.

The three of us were on our feet within seconds, glancing around us and then to the cave.

"Some Strigoi trick?" Mark suggested, frowning.

"No," Rose answered him, taking a small step towards the cave entrance. "That was Ivan."

Mark cursed and gripped his stake tighter. "He never left."

I grabbed Rose's arm as she made more steps towards the dark cave. "Rose, he's in one of the caves."

"I know," she replied. "But what choice do we have? We can't leave him in there."

"This is exactly what we wanted to avoid," I reminded her.

"And likely a trap set by the Blood King," Mark added. Another scream rang out. "He wants us but is too smart to come out and get us."

"But that also means he's probably not going to kill Ivan right away," she responded. "He's just going to mess with him to lure us in. There's a chance we can save Ivan."

Neither Mark nor myself answered, much to Rose's dismay.

She threw her hands up. "Come on! Can you really leave that inept kid in there to die?"

She was right, I knew she was.

How was it that one idiotic kid managed to ruin our whole plan?

"This is where we could've used a map of the caves," I sighed. "Better to set up an ambush."

"No such luxury, comrade," Rose said, moving towards the cave once again. "We've got to go in the front door. At least Mark can give us warning."

I stopped her once again from walking straight into the cave. We needed a formation, and I really didn't want Rose to be the first one to enter the mouth of the cave.

Rose pushed against us so I gave her an argument about how I was safe because of what my grandmother predicted. It was a lame argument, yes, but an argument all the same, which was more than what she had. Mark also made some point about the fact that he was older than us, meant that his life wasn't worth as much, which, of course, was complete bull but I wasn't about to say that in front of Rose.

Eventually, I got my way and was entering the cave first, with Mark right behind me and Rose behind Mark.

I was grateful for the lanterns we had brought with us when the blackness of the cave engulfed us completely. We walked further and further into the deep cave but had to stop when we reached a certain point. There was a fork in the route and we had to make a decision on which way to go. We had to choose carefully though, because if we chose wrong, the Strigoi could come up from behind us and attack.

"Which way?" I found myself murmuring to myself.

We were silent for a moment while each of us tried to figure out the right way.

"There." Mark said suddenly, pointing to the larger tunnel on the left. "It's faint, but I can feel him there."

I trusted Mark's instinct, having seen Rose's first-hand, so we went with the bigger tunnel. It got bigger and wider as we travelled further in before opening up into a large circular 'room,' with several other tunnels feeding into it.

I was about to ask their opinion on which way to go when there was a small bang behind me. I swung around in time to see Rose hit the floor after something had impacted with her.

I would bet every last penny I owned on what that 'something' was.

The Blood King went for Rose a second time, but I had taught her well. She didn't stay in the same place long enough for him to get a hold of her.

He lunged once again and missed her by mere inches. By that time, Mark and I were on him and he had no choice but to turn his attention to us. I put all of my effort into taking down this Strigoi. He was old and fast. A very hard thing to compete with.

Every time I got a small opening, he managed to dodge it. We moved like this for what felt like a long time, each time my stake missed his heart, as did Mark's.

I wasn't looking, but I was aware that Rose had gone on to find Ivan, the reason we had entered the caves in the first place. I knew that she was well able to look after herself, but that didn't make me any less protective of her. I didn't want her anywhere near this dangerous vampire.

"No!" Rose's yell startled me ever so slightly.

I saw the Ivan boy run and ram his wooden stake into the old Strigoi's back. It didn't hurt him of course…but it did distract him.

I swung my leg out, effectively knocking the vampire off his feet, while leaving his chest open. Mark also saw the opportunity and took it without thinking twice.

He plunged his stake deep into the Blood King's heart. I watched as the Strigoi froze in shock and then collapsed, dead, in a heap in front of us.

My eyes immediately went to Rose to see if she was okay; which she was, and I saw that she was also checking to see if I was okay. She looked relieved and happy to see that I was too. Mark and Ivan were both alright as well. Ivan looked a little roughed up and stunned, but fine.

All of our eyes turned to him.

He raised his wooden stake and mocked saluted us.

"You're welcome."


	7. Chapter 7

As Mark walked over to pick up the fallen lantern, I walked to Rose and took her hand. She smiled up at me when I reached her. Together, the four of us travelled back out of the cave with Mark leading us with the light.

Mark questioned the bruised Ivan on why he hadn't left when we'd told him to. He seemed a little annoyed that Ivan hadn't listened and I was sure that I should have been too…but I couldn't bring myself to be, not when we had been successful and had gotten out of the cave with very little injuries.

Ivan spent the whole journey down the rocky and awkward trail of the mountain telling us of how he couldn't leave when we had asked because he had no way back home. His friends had dropped him off with the promise to return in a couple of days to see if he was alive or dead.

Some friends.

By the time we had reached the bottom of the mountain, I was feeling tired and irritated. I knew that we could hardly leave the boy behind while we went home so of course, we offered him a ride back to his village.

He sat in the back with Rose as he gave me directions to his small town. The drive was only about two hours but felt much longer, as the whole time, Ivan went on and on about his heroic actions and how he saved the day.

By the time we had reached the small town, I was more than relieved.

"Sometimes I hear reports of other vampires," Ivan said as he climbed out of the car. "If you want to team up again, I'll let you come along with me next time too."

I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I nearly lost when Mark sent me a pointed look from the passenger seat.

"Noted," Rose replied, and I thought I could hear a hint of hidden sarcasm in her voice.

We spent another couple of hours on the road after dropping Ivan off before finally arriving back home. I could see the relief plain on my mother's face as she greeted us. She invited Mark to stay for tea but he was anxious to get back to Oksana so he left almost straight away.

We made our way inside and sat in the living room as Olena went to make us some food.

"So," My grandmother said, watching us from her rocking chair. "It seems I was right."

Rose walked over and sat close to me on the couch. I could see the weariness and irritation in her face.

She was tired, but not _that _tired. She still found the energy to argue back.

Who was I kidding? Roza would _always _find the energy to argue back.

"No, actually," she said to Yeva. I could see her trying to hide a smirk. "you said Dimitri would kill the Blood King. He didn't. Mark did."

"I said one who had walked the road of death would succeed," my grandmother replied in that calm way of hers. "Mark has faced death and survived."

I watched in amusement as Rose struggled to find a reply.

"Okay," she said. "But when Viktoria said Dimitri would do it, you didn't deny it."

"I didn't confirm it either," Yeva replied.

I could almost see the steam coming out of Rose's ears. She groaned in frustration.

"This is ridiculous! That 'prediction' meant nothing! Hell, it could've applied to Ivan, since he nearly died because of the Blood King."

"My prophecies see many things," my grandmother said vaguely. "My next one is particularly interesting."

"Uh-huh," Rose said. "Let me guess. 'A journey.' That could mean me and Dimitri going home. Or Olena going to the grocery store."

"Actually," said Yeva, "I see a wedding in the future."

My sisters' heads snapped to attention, suddenly getting ideas.

Viktoria started clapping excitedly. "Oh! Rose and Dimka!" Karolina and Sonya nodded in agreement.

I watched Rose's dumbstruck face. "How can you even say that? That can mean anything too! Someone in town is probably getting married right now. Or maybe it'll be Karolina – didn't you say you're getting serious with your boyfriend? If it is me and Dimitri, it'll be years from now – which, of course, you'll claim you foresaw since it was 'the future.'"

Her rambling was pointless as I was now the only person actually listening to her. My sisters were excitedly talking about wedding venues and flowers while my grandmother sat and watched them, with a slightly smug smile on her face.

Rose groaned once again, this time in defeat.

"Unbelievable," she muttered.

I grinned, finding the whole situation very amusing, especially because I knew where Rose stood on the whole 'marriage' thing.

I put my arm her and pulled her close to my side. "Don't you believe in fate, Roza?"

"Sure," she answered, leaning into me. "Just not in your grandmother's crazy vague predictions."

"Doesn't sound that crazy to me," I teased her.

"You're as crazy as her." Roza retorted but snuggled closer.

I kissed the top of her head.

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

THE END

**I'll post an A/N after this chapter :)**


	8. Author's Note :)

**So listen, thank you all so much for your support and reviews :D**

**RozaRocks**

**Maris Belikov**

**AlexaTorrez**

**HersheyRoza**

**Lucy (guest)**

**VAlover21**

**TheBookShelf**

**XoGreenGlitterXo**

**Dimka's chick**

**And the other 4 guests **

**Your reviews mean everything to me…for Homecoming and my other stories :) I'm so glad you like them :D**

**If anybody has any requests or ideas please let me know! Whether it's an idea for a story or a oneshot, or whatever you want :P**

**Thanks again,**

**~Laurie **


	9. Read Please

Hey, sorry guys, not an update but please read.

Here's the story,

There's a little girl that lives fairly close to me who has a rare disease called neuroblastoma.

Recently, a whole group of people got together and recorded a song for her. Their goal is to get this song to number 1 in our charts so that little Lily Mae can get the treatment she needs.

I just want to ask anybody if they can, they song is available on iTunes so please try and support.

If you can't buy it, have a look on youtube and spread the word.

The song is called "Tiny Dancer by A Song For Lily Mae."

Please look it up. She's a four year old baby girl in desperate need of help.

Love you guys and thanks for support :)


	10. MAJORLY IMPORTANT

**MAJORLY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

It has recently been brought to my attention that all fanfics containing lemons/M rated stuff will be deleted from this site as of June 4th – meaning that the majority of my stuff could very well disappear.

Now I've heard so many things and I would appreciate if anybody could tell me what is really happening? Is it true that after the accused stories have been removed, the account of the author will also be destroyed?

If this is indeed true, and my account is removed, fear not! :P I have created a second account where I will re-post my stories when I had "fixed" them.

My other pen name is Roza-Dimka-Reader2

I will only repost my stories if they are removed :)

Thank you for reading and supporting me right from the very start of my time here on fanfiction :)


End file.
